Could It Be
by Chrys-DASL
Summary: Sequel to my In The Band series. Susie made an impact when she joined a band and played her heart out, but now it was time to get serious again with school. She wants to be a normal teen but that's not possible when you desperately need straight As, and when your mom is super suspicious. Can Susie find some balance? One-shot.


COULD IT BE

A/N: This is another installment to my "In The Band" series. You can find links to the other stories on my profile, but I don't think you have to read them to keep up.

Susie looked up from her notebook when her phone buzzed. She was studying hard for an upcoming exam, a very important one that was going to be hard. She'd been studying for almost two weeks now, her head bent into her history notebook instead of her song one. Banshee had to take a back seat, which meant she was spending less time with Johnny…in person. They were in constant contact via text and it was keeping them both happy, for the most part.

"Hey babe. Heading to the movies with the band. Can you give us two hours of your time?" Johnny asked.

Susie sighed. She wanted more than anything in the world to be a normal teenager, but that wasn't her life. Because her mother had groomed her to be prime university material, and because it was almost the end of senior year, she couldn't afford to mess it up now. This test was only important because it was the last major test before finals, and she couldn't just blow off her studies to head off to the movies, even if it did mean spending time with her boyfriend.

Johnny was Susie's first boyfriend, and she often worried if her studying came between them. He always seemed excited to talk to her when they were texting or having lunch together, but it was hard to gauge how he really felt because they were never really together, not like they were before test season came around. They had several good weeks together after the Battle of the Bands, when they'd meet up to practice the new songs Susie wrote for them. Those were the best days of Susie's life, but now she was miserable again.

"No can do. Studying too important," Susie replied, adding a sad-face emoji at the end.

"I understand. Can I bring over a slice when we're done? I want to see you," he sent back.

Susie thought about it. Her family hadn't met Johnny yet, though her mother had seen him perform on stage with her. She really didn't want her family to know about him because she didn't know how they'd react. She didn't want them to be the ones to run him off, especially now when they couldn't spend as much time together.

But Susie really wanted to see him too. She sighed and sent her response, "You can but I'll meet you outside. I could use a walk later anyway."

"Sounds good," Johnny sent back, adding a happy emoji, and Susie knew he meant it. She smiled as she looked back down to her notebook, the dates for a long-ago European war before her. Susie sighed. She had to keep going. Stopping now would be a silly thing to do, but she really wished she was somewhere else.

Susie smiled as Johnny appeared from behind a bush, sitting on his jacket with a small take-out box of pizza next to him. Susie sat down beside him and hugged him over the box, glad to be next to him again. She missed his scent as well, but she knew that was only part of what she missed. She really missed EVERYTHING, and she was happy to make that known.

She kissed his cheek before grabbing the box of pizza and opening it up, "Wow, this looks delicious. I really did want to go with you, but I had no choice but to study. That test is going to be an important one, and I have to be ready."

"You don't have to explain it to me, Susie. I get it. I may not have the same classes as you, and I may have just met you, but I know that people have things that are important to them. Andrew and Claire are obsessed with frozen food. You're really into getting the best possible grades, namely because you've always had good grades, just like Andrew and Claire have always been into frozen food," Johnny grinned.

Susie nodded, "You're right. I just feel like I have to explain it. I really haven't been close enough with people before to know how they'd handle it. And…I'd let you come inside, but who knows how my family would react to you? My mom knows who you are, but no one knows we're together."

"I get that too. I wouldn't want you to come over to my house either," Johnny laughed, pulling out his phone and passing it to her after pulling up a picture, "That's my mom. She's why we named the band Banshee in the first place. She was always yelling, and Clark told me it'd be a good idea, and I agreed, so Banshee it was."

"Wow, she sounds fun to be around. My mom doesn't really yell exactly, just demands," Susie grinned, passing back his phone.

"Well my mom yells her demands, and she yells just about everything else too. I think it's because of what she'd had to go through. My dad ran out on her when I was one or two. I don't remember him at all, but I know she kept her dates away from me after some problems when I was little. She just got angrier and angrier as the years went on. I've learned just to avoid her most of the time. She's probably lonely because no one wants to be with someone like that. I should introduce her to Angelica," Johnny smirked.

Susie laughed heartily, "Probably so. I noticed her sulking around school. She'll never learn, that girl, but we've tried, the babies and I. We all finally just left her alone."

"The babies meaning…?"

"Tommy and the crew," Susie replied. "That's just how I think of them because of how it was back then. Those were good times, but I like now too, and I'm looking forward to the future. I want to thank you for my break and snack, but I really need to get back to my studying."

"I wish you would've brought your notes out here. We can just sit here in the quiet of this yard…that doesn't belong to anyone I know," Johnny smirked, turning around to eye the house. Susie shrugged so Johnny continued, "And you can study, and I can just sit. What do you say?"

"I like that idea. I think the fresh air could do me some good. Give me a sec, okay?" Susie asked, finishing off a final bit of crust before heading inside. When she returned, Johnny was sitting where she'd left him watching some kids bike up the sidewalk. She sat next to him at first, then she lay back on his legs. He held the notebook over her eyes, and they sat like that for an hour, with Susie studying and Johnny just taking her in.

Susie was glad to have her test behind her. Only one question threw her off, but after looking at some of the other questions, she was able to figure out the answer. That meant she was done, at least for now. If her teachers needed her to take finals, she might have to study for them. Otherwise she could really focus on graduating, a task that was starting to scare her.

As Susie went about her day, she realized she'd wasted prime time with Johnny because she needed to study. He meant a lot to her, and she knew he felt the same way about her, but summer was going to change things. Susie was going to do an internship in a neighboring town that was a little larger, which would keep her away from Johnny more. Then she'd be off to college, a university she doubted he could get into even if he knew the name of it and sent them endless letters begging his way in.

Despite the big test being behind her, Susie felt more depressed than she had in a long time. She didn't want to lose Johnny, but high school was almost over, and college would certainly tear them apart.

During lunch, she tried to keep these worries to herself, but the group could tell she was feeling something. Johnny then looked worried, but he kept quiet until after lunch. He offered to walk her to class, and she accepted, sensing he wanted to talk to her. Once they were alone near her class, he asked her the big question:

"So, how did your test go? Did it not go well or something?" he asked nervously.

Susie squinted, "Um, it went fine. Oh, I get it now," she sighed. "No, that's not what has me down. I just realized how little time we have left here. And I wasted it all studying for a test I probably made a one hundred on."

"Studying is important to you, so that time was not wasted. You're right that we don't have much time together, but…I've been thinking about it. I want to go where you go. I know I'm not really prime college material, but there has to be a community place I could go to. We could get an apartment together. And if community college isn't for me, I can just work wherever you end up and figure myself out that way."

"I don't know how I feel about that, but I'm willing to look into it," Susie smiled. "I don't want to lose you just because we're going separate directions with our lives. If you're willing to follow me, I'm willing to see if you can."

"Email me stuff about your college and I'll take it from there," Johnny grinned, hugging her tightly. He then released, knowing they both had to get to class. As he walked away, Susie sighed with a smile on her lips. Maybe things were going to work out after all, and that sinking feeling in her gut was now completely gone.

Susie did as she was asked, and that Saturday they met up at a local ice cream shop for a few scoops and an information swap. Sure enough, there were two community colleges near Susie's university, and both had programs he could see himself getting into. Susie helped him see how one of the colleges was better than the other, but she told him he'd have to decide on his own major, which he agreed with.

Next came the apartment. Apartments in the area were rather expensive, and while Susie could get some help from her mom, Johnny would have to pay his own half of the rent.

"I've been thinking of getting a summer job, possibly even in that area so I won't have to leave come fall," Johnny said.

"Hmm…I have an idea," Susie smiled. The commute to the town would be too much for him, but if he got a job locally with a company that also had places in the college's vicinity, he could just move his job come fall instead of quitting. Johnny accepted this idea, so their plans were made. They were going to spend the summer at home working up their bank accounts (and experience for Susie), and then they'd move on to college together.

"And when we have free nights, Banshee will always be there for us," Johnny grinned, lifting his glass. Susie picked up hers and clinked it with his. When their drinks were down, she leaned across the table and kissed him. A child squealed at the next table, so they pulled away quickly. But their fingers remained interlaced under the table, and neither one wanted to let go.

Dr. Carmichael looked her daughter over with a raised eyebrow. She knew she was headed to the movies, but dressing up to go to the movies meant this was a date, not just an outing with friends.

"I'm going out with the band. I promise," Susie pleaded, but her mother saw straight through that.

"You might be going with the band, but you're doing that for one person in particular. Spill or you can't go," Dr. Carmichael demanded, squaring herself in front of the door.

Susie had no choice. She sighed, "Yes, I'm dating the bassist. His name is Johnny. He lives with his single mother and does well enough in school. I care for him, and he cares for me."

"Well enough? Does he have college plans? What is he going to do to help support you if it comes to that?" Dr. Carmichael questioned.

"He's looked at community colleges near Brown," Susie replied, "and if it works out, so be it. Otherwise he'll figure it out. What do you mean by 'if it comes to that'?"

"You know exactly what I mean. What if you get pregnant? He can't take care of you like that. Do you know the average cost for raising a child into adulthood is over a million dollars? And it's increasing every year as more and more young people like yourself stick around your parents' house. Well you can't do that, and if he can't take care of you, what are you going to do?"

"We'll figure it out. Look, we're just going to the movies as a group. We're not having sex. I have a brain, Mom, and he respects me too much to be so irresponsible."

"Respect and lust are two different things," Dr. Carmichael said, moving out of the way of the door, "You do whatever you want, but remember, you are the one responsible for your choices, not me. Also, he is to come to dinner tomorrow night, no excuses."

Susie's stomach practically flipped inside her. As she walked out of the house, her eyes fell on Johnny at their meeting spot up the street. Andrew had his car parked against the curb, his music turned up loud as Claire headbanged in the passenger seat.

As soon as Johnny saw Susie, he knew something was up. He stayed where he was, not wanting to call attention to himself. It was Susie who walked faster, telling him everything before they joined Clark in the back seat.

"What? She thinks I'm that irresponsible? That we're that irresponsible?" Johnny asked, shaking his head, "No, I won't let her think that about me. I'll be at dinner. I'm going to tell my mom now so she won't bother me," Johnny said, sending the text.

Susie leaned against the door, pressing her face against the cool glass of the window in an attempt to calm herself down. It wasn't working, and Johnny's mom didn't help the situation. Johnny tapped Susie's arm and showed her the text. She was coming to dinner, no excuses.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Susie groaned, rolling down the window and throwing up. Andrew laughed loudly as the people behind them reacted to the mess hitting their windshield. Johnny didn't find it funny in the least, but his mind was on the next day. If it didn't go well, their plans would fall flat, and he couldn't let that happen. He hadn't told Susie yet because the timing hadn't been right, but he loved her, and he was certain she loved him. Nothing could come between them now, but if it did, he was willing to fight to have her. He couldn't be without her, not for one single minute.

~End

Theme 64: Love

A/N: Theme from my Infinite Theme List Challenge. It's on my profile if you want to check it out.

So this is the fifth installment of my "In The Band" series, and as you noticed, I left it hanging. I like the idea of one-shots telling their stories, so expect one soon covering the family dinner. How will it go? Well I haven't written it yet, so we'll all have to see:)

Hope you guys are enjoying this, and if you have any ideas, let me know.


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